Sonnet 60 Analysis

Sonnet 60 is an example of a Shakespearean sonnet, including three quatrains and a couplet to tie it all together. The theme of the poem is essentially about Time. Time is a destructive force that no one can escape; everything will come to its end and only Time can decide when that is. The poem uses three different images to relate to Time, especially being compared to a human’s lifespan. These three images are the ocean, the sun, and nature. The poem uses iambic pentameter as well and when read out loud, the stressed and unstressed syllables make the words sound like a heartbeat. This is a clever way to show life and then once the poem ends, the heartbeat does, just like how Time ends everything.

The imagery in the first quatrain was the ocean. The poem’s goal in this quatrain was comparing a human life to that of the ocean/sea. There is a simile right of the bat in lines 1 and 2 that immediately gives evidence to the ocean image: “like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end.” The poem is comparing the human “minutes” to that of the “waves,” as well as “end “to the “pebbled shore.” This is where human life and time is compared to that of the ocean. As if the span of human life goes as quickly as a wave; over in what seems like the blink of an eye. Waves crash against the shore and end, just like how life essentially crashed against death. There is also the fact that waves are constantly moving backwards and forward, swaying. Therefore, the poem uses the image of the ocean in line 3, that the waves (minutes) are “changing place” to where it was “before.” This connects to how nothing can cheat time because everything is always moving towards the end. The minutes and waves are...

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...,” (14) so basically the poem could help solidify their existence in the form of writing. even though they have long since perished because of Time’s “Cruel hand.” The speaker kind of contradicts themselves because the poem is about Time ending everything. Someone with that outlook on life would be more inclined to understand that nothing can beat time, so why should their poem be the exception?

Sonnet 60 uses beautiful imagery to show how Time takes it all away. Time will win through it all; life is short and there isn’t anything to do about beating it. Except for the Speaker, who believes that this poem will conquer the test of time. The eloquent words and phrases in this poem help give it life, so to speak. The images of the ocean, the sun, and nature all help to picture Time in a different way. The message is clear though: Time will win and nothing can stop it.